


Help

by historyofamanda



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Apologies, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-24
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-07-26 09:10:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7568446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/historyofamanda/pseuds/historyofamanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Inquisitor is going through a difficult time, and her friends realize they haven't done enough to help her.<br/>Warning: possible spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Help

**Author's Note:**

> So far I've only written Mass Effect fics and this is my very first Dragon Age fic! I have fallen madly in love with Dragon Age Inquisition and its characters. Thank you for reading, I really hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

Inquisitor Trevelyan sat on the edge of her bed in her quarters, tears silently streaming down her cheeks. Her windows were cracked and it was cold. It had been raining all day in Skyhold, the weather seemed to echo her feelings. She made no sound, but shut her eyes tightly and fought back the urge to scream. She was lost in her own thoughts until she heard a soft knock on the door.

"Can I come in?" She heard Cole say.

She attempted to wipe her eyes. Of course he knew that she was like this, that she was hurting.

"Of course, come in." She said, just loudly enough for him to hear.

Cole walked up and stopped several feet away from her. A puzzled expression covered his face.

"You are sad." He said.

She smiled. She had always felt an almost motherly connection to Cole, immediately upon meeting him she felt the desire to keep him safe. His heart and his intentions were always so pure and uncorrupted by the evils of the world around him.

She sniffed and looked up at him.  
"Yes. Yes, I am sad."

Cole surprised her by coming up to her and sitting beside her.

"Why are you sad? How can I help?"

She remained silent for a few moments, looking at her lap.  
"It's just...I don't know, Cole. Some days I'm perfectly fine handling this whole 'being the inquisitor' thing. But, some days, it's just too much. Some days I think of the countless number of people who have died because of me, or for the cause that I'm in charge of and it just feels like it's eating me alive. I have to try to not think about how much blood is on my hands or I just want to collapse. And I just don't know what lies ahead. What if we don't win? What if we can't stop Corypheus? What if this was all for nothing? I just can't even imagine that-"

"Kind." Cole said.

"What?" She replied.

"Kind. You are kind." Cole looked directly into her eyes, something he rarely did with anyone. 

"Guilty, guilty, fear, stress, pain. Never a full night's sleep, too many thoughts screaming in her brain. Worried about everyone, but never worried about herself. Selfless, scared, hurting."

He read her like an open book. Even now that Cole had become more human, his intuitive sense of her feelings came from what remained of him as a spirit and the deep friendship that they shared. 

They sat silently next to each other for a few moments.

She was completely taken aback when she felt a warm arm wrap around her shoulder. Cole was...hugging her. 

This broke any barrier she had left and she burst back into tears, a mixture of the sadness she had felt before but relief for the comfort of her friend. She turned into him and cried into his chest. He hugged her tightly and rested his head on top of hers, allowing her to cry out every pain, every fear, every stress she had while he sat, quiet and content because he knew he was helping. Where he could not help with words, he could help with showing her the same kindness she had always shown everyone else.

"Thank you Cole. I appreciate you always being there."

"I think we could all be there more." Cole said, determination in his gray eyes. "We could all do better."

He stood up suddenly and turned to leave.

"I will be here if you need anything else."

She smiled and watch him walk away. _Such a strange, sweet soul,_ she thought. She wondered what he meant about them all "doing better." She shrugged it off and stood up. She walked over to her balcony and took a deep breath as she stared at the dark skies over Skyhold.

A few hours had passed and she decided to get out of her quarters and take a walk. Some change in scenery would help clear her racing mind, she thought. It was the last few minutes of the sunset, the sky was still just barely lit and the storm clouds had mostly cleared.

She walked down the long steps of the main tower to the ground below and found The Iron Bull near the entrance to the tavern.

"Hey boss," He called out to her as she walked closer to him. "How's it going?"

She shrugged. "I'm alright, Bull. Just getting some air."

Bull smiled.  
"Want to come inside for some drinks?"

She didn't really feel like it, but hey, what could a few drinks hurt? She nodded.

Iron Bull smiled slyly and opened the door to the tavern.

"SURPRISE!" The crowd inside roared.

The Inquisitor was immediately shaken out of the fog she had been in most of the day.

Inside the tavern stood nearly everyone in Skyhold, including every single one of her inner circle. Cole sat up on a table, a small, satisfied smile on his face.

"What is all this?" The Inquisitor asked, still slightly dumbstruck with surprise.

The Iron Bull placed his massive hand on her shoulder.

"Cole told us you had been feeling down lately, and after we talked to him we all sort of realized that we haven't been putting in our end of the deal lately. You've done so much for all of us and for, well shit, the world, and we all feel kind of like shits for not realizing that even the mighty Inquisitor needs some encouragement now and then."

"We're all here to celebrate you, Inquisitor!" Varric said with a wink from behind a table, raising his glass.

Sera walked up to the Inquisitor and threw her arm around her shoulder.  
"Everyone's been little shits 'cept me, of course." Sera said with her usual mischievous tone. "But yeah, we've all been actin' like little twits goin' woe is me all the time to you and havin' you take care of our stuff, but we haven't been takin' enough care of your stuff. Shite, it's a miracle you haven't dropped dead from stress by now. The stress'll getcha way before Coryphyspit does." The Inquisitor laughed at her fearless candor, a trait she always admired in her elven friend.

"Well Curly," Varric said, motioning to Cullen, "Are you gonna go over there and greet your lady or not?"

Cullen cleared his throat nervously, looking sternly at Varric, but his eyes softened immediately upon addressing the lady he loved.

Cullen approached the Inquisitor and embraced her, kissing her as they pulled apart. This led to loud kissing noises from Sera, who was still standing near the Inquisitor. 

"Sweetheart," he began, "I am so sorry that we had to find out that you were hurting through Cole. I'm glad he told us, but I know it's not like you to ever let anyone worry about you. You've done anything and everything all of us have asked of you without ever asking for a single thing for yourself. We are all not worthy of you, but we're all here to show you how deeply loved and appreciated you truly are."

The Inquisitor wrapped her arm around Cullen's waist. Her heart was full. To see every one of her friends and the man she loved in one place, doing something like this, brought tears to her eyes. She was so used to taking on the world herself, thinking about everyone else except for herself. She was completely taken aback by their apologies and truly felt the sincerity behind all of them.

Cole sat up suddenly, a deeply concerned look on his face.  
"Crying? Joy, confusion, love, fear, warmth. She's crying, but it is a happy cry instead of a sad one. These are tears...but...good tears? Good, I think."

Dorian cleared his throat loudly to get the Inquisitor's attention. Her heart swelled at the sight of one of her closest friends. She considered Dorian to be, next to Cullen, her most trusted companion and her best friend. He was like the big brother she never had. From the moment they met, they instantly connected and understood everything about one another.

"I realize, my darling, that these last few months we have all been sort of insufferable." Dorian began. He made eye contact with Cassandra and flashed her a smile. "Well, some of us are always insufferable, but more so than usual." Cassandra replied with her famous disgusted noise, rolling her eyes.

"I consider you to truly be my dearest and most trusted friend in the world, and I sincerely apologize for not being there for you as much as I have been in the past. We all apologize for taking you for granted. We would all be nothing without you, truly. Well, I'd still be devilishly handsome, but with a much less impressive resume."  


The Inquisitor smiled brightly at Dorian and let out a small laugh.

“We all care deeply about you, Inquisitor. Without you, none of us would have been able to accomplish any of what we have done.” Josephine said, a kind smile on her face.

“At this point, without you, none of us would likely be alive.” Leliana replied, her tone somehow both serious and playful.

Blackwall took his turn to speak. His eyes were soft, kind, and slightly sad. 

"After absolutely everything, you gave me back my freedom without a second thought. I owe you everything, my lady. My life, my freedom, my second chance to do things right." He sighed softly. "But after all that, I never once asked if there was anything I could do for you. Still, I thought of no one but myself, despite everything I went through. I deeply apologize Inquisitor, and I sincerely hope you can forgive me." His sincerity touched the Inquisitor's heart.

"We all could do better." Cassandra said from the other side of the room.  
"We are all so used to just being warriors, rogues, and mages that we forget that we are people underneath it all."

The Inquisitor was sure she caught Varric staring at Cassandra while she spoke, a soft twinkle in his eyes.

"We are all here for you, my darling." Vivienne said, looking as glamorous and poised as ever. "We have all absolutely not been here enough for you, and anything you ever need is yours, you need only ask."

Varric chuckled. "Like she'd ever ask anyone else for help with anything."

"We never want to hear that you've been hurting all alone in your quarters, not ever again." Cullen said, pulling the Inquisitor close to him and kissing the top of her head.

"Come on lover boy, enough of this sappiness. Let's get this celebration started!" Varric cried.

"We do have one more thing for you, Inquisitor," Solas said. He had been quietly observing in the corner, contemplative as ever. "Our way of apologizing, and showing our thanks."

"Follow us." Dorian said, taking the Inquisitor's hand.

He led her out to the courtyard directly outside the tavern.

He squeezed the Inquisitor's hand and walked over to a line where Vivienne and Solas were now standing, staffs in hand.

"For you, Inquisitor." Solas said, a small smile on his normally very serious face.

The three mages lifted their staffs up in the air and from them shot three streams of red, green, and blue light. The lights shot up and exploded in a sea of colors, sparkling through the night sky. Every color of the rainbow paraded through the air, and one of the purple beams wrapped around the Inquisitor, surrounding her in color and light, before soaring back up to the sky. The Inquisitor let warm, happy tears fall down her cheeks as she watched the stars sparkle along with the show made just for her. She was completely overwhelmed by her emotions.

"To the one, the only, our lady Inquisitor!" Dorian exclaimed, a large smile on his face.

The magic at last faded from the sky and the entire group burst into applause. Dorian and Solas took a bow and Vivienne curtsied elegantly.

"That was amazing, you three. Thank you, thank you so much. To every single one of you. I love you all."

The Iron Bull scooped up the Inquisitor and put her on his shoulders.  
"Now let's go inside and get this party started right!" his voice roared and echoed throughout Skyhold's walls.

For countless hours the Inquisitor and her friends laughed, cried, sang, dance, and took the night to just enjoy each other’s company. This celebration was desperately needed by all and by the end of it, any fears or concerns any of them had disappeared as they sought the comfort and protection of the friends that surrounded them.

Towards the end of the night, the Inquisitor walked up to Cole and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you, Cole." she said, smiling warmly. "I know you were the one that made all this happen, the one that spoke to everyone. I can't imagine my life without you. I am truly grateful for you."

Cole smiled back at her.

"I am happy. You are happier now. I helped."


End file.
